Searching for Value

Entrepreneur. Investor. Husband. Father.

[Shanu Mathew @ShanuMathew93]

QTS, NextEra, Siemens Energy and Quanta are teaming up to counter Texas’ data center backlash through the Lone Star Infrastructure Coalition, Bloomberg reports.

They’ll pitch jobs and investment directly to residents and local officials as Texas halts permits pending grid and water audits.

Community support increasingly determines whether AI infrastructure gets built. "Data center opponents blocked 120 projects valued at almost $200 billion nationwide during the first half of this year, according to Data Center Watch"

[a16z @a16z]

Where does money invested into the AI buildout actually go?

For every $100 flowing into the supply chain:
- $50 to chips
- $20 to power
- $15 to networking
- $15 to cooling, buildings, and land

More charts in State of Markets II: https://t.co/MTaxKUxa2w

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Boring Company is working on a simple, precursor Hyperloop tunnel between Austin and San Antonio (>200 mph).

Due to traffic congestion, that journey can currently take up to 2.5 hours. @BoringCompany can reduce that to a consistent <30 mins.

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

Exclusive: Pipeline company Energy Transfer is set to be the first major company to switch its primary listing from New York to the nascent Texas Stock Exchange. https://t.co/JKxxy5PNn7

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

Ro, I like you. You know that. But you need to read the state of the state.

The number of Deca Unicorns in Cali is growing by the day as investors chase amazing startups.

A unique feature of these 10b startups is that even if they raise a billion, little, if any of that money goes to the founders, who are now worth billions of dollars over night. They are the definition of cash poor, stock rich

How are you going to tax them ? Make them borrow money against their shares, if they can? They just raised money to grow their company and a bank will come along and loan them money ? A company that has been in business maybe less than a year ? lol

Will you take their stock if they can’t ?

Do you really think each of multiple founders, who started an amazing company in Cali and is now a billionaire, can each just pull out $250m per billion of net worth from their raise ? You know they can’t.

If this passes , and it doesn’t directly impact me at all, I won’t be a cali resident, but you can bet if I’m investing in a multi billion dollar startup, I’m asking them to move from California first.

IMO, if this passes, only idiot startup founders stay in Cali.

I’ve done it before and will do it again. Dallas. Pittsburgh. Indiana. I will make NOT being in California a pre requisite for an investment

Ideology is not a strategy Ro.

[Startup Archive @StartupArchive_]

Jeff Bezos: “Be stubborn on the vision and flexible on the details”

When Jeff Bezos started Amazon, the concept was “universal selection of books.” And as they added new product categories, Amazon kept their founding vision of universal selection.

But as Jeff explains:

“We realized very early that the only way we were going to get to universal selection of all product categories is if we invited third-party sellers to join us.”

Amazon’s first two implementations of this (Amazon Auctions and Z Shops) both failed. But their third attempt (Amazon Marketplace) succeeded.

This is an example of a principle Jeff stresses to all Amazon employees:

“What I ask people inside Amazon to do is be stubborn on the vision, and flexible on the details. We knew we needed to make third-party sellers successful on Amazon. We just didn’t know how to do it, and so we had to go through three iterations and it finally worked. Now it’s 40% of units sold on Amazon. It’s a huge part of our business.”

[Nicolas Bustamante @nicbstme]

https://t.co/v7sot4WCI2

[Boring_Business @BoringBiz_]

Apollo just released a 126 page report on the state of the housing and real estate market

Some charts that caught my eye

🧵

1/ Average monthly mortgage payment on a new 30 year mortgage now sits at $2665

[Searching for Value @ValueSearching]

@BooshCarron @ShanuMathew93 Exactly.

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

"My name's Hank. I'm 66. I deliver propane to homes. Rural routes, farms, folks off the grid. I fill their tanks, check connections, drive to the next house. Most customers just sign the slip, barely look up. I'm just the propane guy.

But last February, during that brutal cold snap, I noticed something at the Miller place.
Pulled up to fill their tank, gauge showed empty. Completely dry. In 15-degree weather.
I knocked on the door. Mrs. Miller answered, three kids bundled behind her in coats. Inside the house.

"Ma'am, your tank's bone dry. How long you been without heat?"
"Four days." Her voice was steady, but her hands shook. "Bill's due Friday. We're waiting on my husband's paycheck."
Four days. Three kids. Fifteen degrees.
"Ma'am, I'm filling it now."
"I can't pay until"
"I'll mark it as a delivery error. Computer glitch. Nobody'll know."
She started crying. "Why would you do this?"
"Because those kids are wearing coats inside."

I filled their tank. Checked the furnace. Made sure heat kicked on before I left.
Drove away thinking about what I'd seen. Kids doing homework in winter jackets. A mom choosing between heat and food.

Started paying attention different after that. The elderly veteran whose tank was at 10%, he was rationing, keeping one room warm. The single dad whose payment was two weeks late, he'd been burning firewood he couldn't really afford.

I started doing something I shouldn't. When I saw someone struggling, someone who'd run out, someone rationing heat—I'd add 50 gallons. Mark it as "meter calibration" or "pressure test residual."
Small amounts. Enough to get them through.

Did it eleven times that winter. My boss noticed the discrepancies. Called me in.
"Hank, we're showing extra gallons delivered but not billed."
I told him the truth. Everything.

He stared at me for a long time. Then said, "My daughter was a single mom once. Chose between heat and groceries every winter. I wished someone had helped her."

He didn't fire me. Instead, he created something, "Warm Hearts Emergency Fund." Customers could donate. We'd match it. Use it for families in crisis who couldn't afford propane.

But here's what broke me, Mrs. Miller came to our office in May. She'd gotten a better job, caught up on bills.
She handed me an envelope. Inside, $200.

"For the next family. The one you'll find in February, four days without heat, trying to be brave for their kids."
She grabbed my hands. "Hank, my youngest has asthma. Four more days in that cold... I don't know if..." She couldn't finish.

Last winter, the Warm Hearts Fund helped 23 families. Not with handouts, with heat when they had none. With dignity when they felt broken.

And here's the thing, other propane companies heard about it. Started their own programs. Now there are "emergency heat funds" in six states.

But the moment that destroyed me happened last month. Got a call to deliver to an address I recognized, the Miller place.

Mrs. Miller answered. "Hank! Come in, please."
Inside, warm, kids doing homework at the table, laughing. She handed me a check. Full payment, plus extra.
"For the fund. But also..." She pulled out a drawing her youngest had made. Stick figure man with a propane truck. Caption in crayon: "Mr. Hank, my hero."

"She asks about you every winter. 'Is Mr. Hank making sure people are warm?'"
I'm 66. I deliver propane to houses nobody notices.

But I learned this- Cold doesn't wait for paychecks. And no child should do homework in a winter coat inside their own home.
So if you deliver anything, oil, propane, firewood, and you see someone struggling, someone empty, someone rationing,
Find a way. Mark it wrong. Call your boss. Start a fund. Do something.
Because heat isn't a luxury. It's survival.
And the difference between freezing and living shouldn't be whether your paycheck arrived on time.
Be the reason someone stays warm."
.
Let this story reach more hearts....
.
Ai image is for Demonstration purpose only
.
Credit: Mary Nelson

[Searching for Value @ValueSearching]

@felixprehn AI

[Felix Nikolas Prehn 🐶 @felixprehn]

Just created a complete analysis of AI infrastructure opportunities covering chip manufacturers, power companies and system integrators.

I shared this analysis with my 20,000+ students.

For 24 hours, it's yours for FREE.

Like, RT & Comment "AI" and I'll DM it to you.

[a16z @a16z]

HVAC has beaten out semiconductors, computers/servers, and data centers as the biggest winner of net-new hardware spending since 2022.

[Just a Dude Who Invests @DudeWhoInvests]

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR $TSM DROPPED A VIDEO FROM ITS ARIZONA FAB SHOWING THE ASML $ASML EUV MACHINES PRINTING NEXT-GEN CHIPS…

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING TO WATCH. 🤯

[Searching for Value @ValueSearching]

@ThrillaRilla369 Excite bike. Tecno bowl. Tyson’s punch out. Contra III. Zelda.

[Searching for Value @ValueSearching]

@HedgieMarkets Best comparison is the 2010-2014 oil & gas shale boom. Inflated valuations and stock prices were funding uneconomic acquisitions and drilling programs. Nobody was doing sensible math on underlying well/drilling economics. Until David Einhorn sounded the alarm on PXD in May 2015.

[Searching for Value @ValueSearching]

@BigJohn043 @chamath Well said, John.

[Searching for Value @ValueSearching]

@DynamicMoats Can you share more about your thinking on this?

[Arsenal @Arsenal]

Statement made.

[Searching for Value @ValueSearching]

@akm515 It’s expensive plus nothing outdoors to do and nothing cultural to see. Which drives more money spending.